Missing Person Novels of 2018

Today's list was inspired by the 1975 disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa.  There are seriously A LOT of missing person novels out there, so I went with sharing some popular ones from 2018 only. 

Alter Ego by Brian Freeman - When a freak auto accident kills a driver carrying false identification on the remote roads outside Duluth, Jonathan Stride is disturbed to find a gun in the trunk--and the gun has recently been fired.
The next day, a Duluth college student has also vanished, and Stride worries they're connected--but what would have put an ordinary young woman in the crosshairs of a man who has all the hallmarks of an assassin for hire?
Stride's investigation leads him to a film crew in Duluth, where a movie is being made based on a case in Stride's own past. The actor playing Stride is Hollywood royalty, an award-winning icon who has charmed his way to the top of the box office. But Stride soon hears whispers that his cinematic alter ego has a dark side . . . Book 9 of 9 in the Jonathan Stride series

Fast Burn by Lori Foster - For the woman who's his perfect match, he's willing to break the rules...
The moment Brand Berry meets beautiful, driven Sahara Silver, the connection between them is electric. It's also something he can't pursue. Sahara wants him, sure--to join Body Armor, where his MMA skills, size and cocky attitude make him perfect for her elite crew of bodyguards. For Sahara, the agency always comes first, and Brand needs more. Yet when she's kidnapped by men searching for her missing brother, he doesn't hesitate.
Somewhere along the way, flirting with Brand for the sake of business turned very personal. Despite his refusal to join Body Armor, it's Brand who steps up when Sahara needs him most. Now there's no more time for games, and no point denying the hunger they both feel. They'll escape together or not at all. But if they survive, can Sahara finally surrender control to claim this blazing passion?  Book 4 of 4 in the Body Armor series 

The Labyrinth of the Spirits by Carlos Ruiz Zafón - Nine-year-old Alicia lost her parents during the Spanish Civil War when the Nacionales (the fascists) savagely bombed Barcelona in 1938. Twenty years later, she still carries the emotional and physical scars of that violent and terrifying time. Weary of her work as an investigator for Spain's secret police in Madrid, a job she has held for more than a decade, the twenty-nine-year old plans to move on. At the insistence of her boss, Leandro Montalvo, she remains to solve one last case: the mysterious disappearance of Spain's Minister of Culture, Mauricio Valls. With her partner, the intimidating policeman Juan Manuel Vargas, Alicia discovers a possible clue--a rare book by the author Victor Mataix hidden in Valls' office in his Madrid mansion. Valls was the director of the notorious Montjuic Prison in Barcelona during World War II where several writers were imprisoned, including David Martín and Victor Mataix. Traveling to Barcelona on the trail of these writers, Alicia and Vargas meet with several booksellers, including Juan Sempere, who knew her parents. As Alicia and Vargas come closer to finding Valls, they uncover a tangled web of kidnappings and murders tied to the Franco regime, whose corruption is more widespread and horrifying than anyone imagined. Alicia's courageous and uncompromising search for the truth puts her life in peril. Only with the help of a circle of devoted friends will she emerge from the dark labyrinths of Barcelona and its history into the light of the future. Book 4 of 4 in the Cemetery of Forgotten Books

The Last Sun by K. D. Edwards - In this debut novel and series starter, the last member of a murdered House searches for a missing nobleman, and uncovers clues about his own tortured past. Rune Saint John, last child of the fallen Sun Court, is hired to search for Lady Judgment's missing son, Addam, on New Atlantis, the island city where the Atlanteans moved after ordinary humans destroyed their original home. With his companion and bodyguard, Brand, he questions Addam's relatives and business contacts through the highest ranks of the nobles of New Atlantis. But as they investigate, they uncover more than a missing man: a legendary creature connected to the secret of the massacre of Rune's Court. In looking for Addam, can Rune find the truth behind his family's death and the torments of his past?  Book 1 of 2 in the Tarot Sequence

Safe and Sound by Fern Michaels - Ben Ryan is eight-years-old, and increasingly subjected to danger by his greedy stepfather, who is determined to get his hands on Ben's trust fund. Ben is also the grandson of a former client of the Sisterhood. Isabelle is determined to protect the boy, and calls in the Sisterhood. Meanwhile, Eleanor has vanished on a mission of her town, trying to right an old wrong. With two wrongs to right, the Sisterhood is going to get creative.... Book 29 of 30 in the Sisterhood series

Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft - The Tower of Babel is the greatest marvel in the world. Immense as a mountain, the ancient Tower holds unnumbered ringdoms, warring and peaceful, stacked one on the other like the layers of a cake. It is a world of geniuses and tyrants, of airships and steam engines, of unusual animals and mysterious machines. Soon after arriving for his honeymoon at the Tower, the mild-mannered headmaster of a small village school, Thomas Senlin, gets separated from his wife, Marya, in the overwhelming swarm of tourists, residents, and miscreants. Senlin is determined to find Marya, but to do so he'll have to navigate madhouses, ballrooms, and burlesque theaters. He must survive betrayal, assassins, and the long guns of a flying fortress. But if he hopes to find his wife, he will have to do more than just endure. This quiet man of letters must become a man of action. Book 1 of 3 in the Babel series

Shadow's Bane by Karen Chance - Dorina Basarab is a dhampir--half-human, half-vampire. As one of the Vampire Senate's newest members, Dory already has a lot on her plate. But then a relative of one of Dory's fey friends goes missing. They fear he's been sold to a slaver who arranges fights--sometimes to the death--between different types of fey. As Dory investigates, she and her friends learn the slavers are into something much bigger than a fight club. With the Vampire Senate gearing up for war with Faerie, it'll take everything she has to defeat the slavers--and deal with the entirely too attractive master vampire Louis-Cesare ... Book 4 of 4 in the Dorina Basarab series

A Steep Price by Robert Dugoni - Called in to consult after a young woman disappears, Tracy Crosswhite has the uneasy feeling that this is no ordinary missing-persons case. When the body turns up in an abandoned well, Tracy's suspicions are confirmed. Estranged from her family, the victim had balked at an arranged marriage and had planned to attend graduate school. But someone cut her dreams short. Solving the mystery behind the murder isn't Tracy's only challenge. The detective is keeping a secret of her own: she's pregnant. And now her biggest fear seems to be coming true when a new detective arrives to replace her. Meanwhile, Tracy's colleague Vic Fazzio is about to take a fall after his investigation into the murder of a local community activist turns violent and leaves an invaluable witness dead. Two careers are on the line. And when more deadly secrets emerge, jobs might not be the only things at risk.  Book 6 of 7 in the Tracy Crosswhite series 

The Summer Children by Dot Hutchinson - This FBI agent has come to expect almost anything--just not this..When Agent Mercedes Ramirez finds an abused young boy on her porch, covered in blood and clutching a teddy bear, she has no idea that this is just the beginning. He tells her a chilling tale: an angel killed his parents and then brought him here so Mercedes could keep him safe. His parents weren't just murdered. It was a slaughter--a rage kill like no one on the Crimes Against Children team had seen before. But they're going to see it again. An avenging angel is meting out savage justice and she's far from through. One by one, more children arrive at Mercedes's door with the same horror story. Each one a traumatized survivor of an abusive home. Each one chafing at Mercedes's own scars from the past. And each one taking its toll on her life and career. Now, as the investigation draws her deeper into the dark, Mercedes is beginning to fear that if this case doesn't destroy her, her memories might.  Book 3 of 4 in the Collector Trilogy

To Die But Once by Jacqueline Winspear - During the months following Britain's declaration of war on Germany, Maisie Dobbs investigates the disappearance of a young apprentice working on a hush-hush government contract. As news of the plight of thousands of soldiers stranded on the beaches of France is gradually revealed to the general public, and the threat of invasion rises, another young man beloved by Maisie makes a terrible decision that will change his life forever.
Maisie's investigation leads her from the countryside of rural Hampshire to the web of wartime opportunism exploited by one of the London underworld's most powerful men, in a case that serves as a reminder of the inextricable link between money and war. Yet when a final confrontation approaches, she must acknowledge the potential cost to her future--and the risk of destroying a dream she wants very much to become reality.  Book 14 of 15 in the Maisie Dobbs series

Sharks!

Dun dun dun dun... Shark week!

Demon Fish: Travels Through the Hidden World of Sharks by Juliet Eilperin - A   group of traders huddles around a pile of dried shark fins on a gleaming white floor in Hong Kong. A Papua New Guinean elder shoves off in his hand-carved canoe, ready to summon a shark with ancient magic. A scientist finds a rare shark in Indonesia and forges a deal with villagers so it and other species can survive.
In this eye-opening adventure that spans the globe, Juliet Eilperin investigates the fascinating ways different individuals and cultures relate to the ocean's top predator. Along the way, she reminds us why, after millions of years, sharks remain among nature's most awe-inspiring creatures.
From Belize to South Africa, from Shanghai to Bimini, we see that sharks are still the object of an obsession that may eventually lead to their extinction. This is why movie stars and professional athletes go shark hunting in Miami and why shark's fin soup remains a coveted status symbol in China. Yet we also see glimpses of how people and sharks can exist alongside one another: surfers tolerating their presence off Cape Town and ecotourists swimming with sharks that locals in the Yucatan no longer have to hunt.
With a reporter's instinct for a good story and a scientist's curiosity, Eilperin offers us an up-close understanding of these extraordinary, mysterious creatures in the most entertaining and illuminating shark encounter you're likely to find outside a steel cage.

The Devil's Teeth: A True Story of Obsession and Survival Among America's Great White Sharks by Susan Casey - A journalist's obsession brings her to a remote island off the California coast, home to the world's most mysterious and fearsome predators-and the strange band of surfer-scientists who follow them.
Susan Casey was in her living room when she first saw the great white sharks of the Farallon Islands, their dark fins swirling around a small motorboat in a documentary. These sharks were the alphas among alphas, some longer than twenty feet, and there were too many to count; even more incredible, this congregation was taking place just twenty-seven miles off the coast of San Francisco.
In a matter of months, Casey was being hoisted out of the early-winter swells on a crane, up a cliff face to the barren surface of Southeast Farallon Island-dubbed by sailors in the 1850s the "devil's teeth." There she joined Scot Anderson and Peter Pyle, the two biologists who bunk down during shark season each fall in the island's one habitable building, a haunted, 135-year-old house spackled with lichen and gull guano. Two days later, she got her first glimpse of the famous, terrifying jaws up close and she was instantly hooked; her fascination soon yielded to obsession-and an invitation to return for a full season. But as Casey readied herself for the eight-week stint, she had no way of preparing for what she would find among the dangerous, forgotten islands that have banished every campaign for civilization in the past two hundred years.

Emperors of the Deep: Sharks -- The Ocean's Most Mysterious, Most Misunderstood, and Most Important Guardians by William McKeever - In this remarkable groundbreaking book, a documentarian and conservationist, determined to dispel misplaced fear and correct common misconceptions, explores in-depth the secret lives of sharks -- magnificent creatures who play an integral part in maintaining the health of the world's oceans and ultimately the planet. From the Jaws blockbusters to Shark Week, we are conditioned to see sharks as terrifying cold-blooded underwater predators. But as Safeguard the Seas founder William McKeever reveals, sharks are evolutionary marvels essential to maintaining a balanced ecosystem. We can learn much from sharks, he argues, and our knowledge about them continues to grow. The first book to reveal in full the hidden lives of sharks, Emperors of the Deep examines four species -- Mako, Tiger, Hammerhead, and Great White -- as never before, and includes fascinating details such as: Sharks are 50-million years older than trees; Sharks have survived five extinction level events, including the one that killed off the dinosaurs; Sharks have electroreception, a sixth-sense that lets them pick up on electric fields generated by living things; Sharks can dive 4,000 feet below the surface; Sharks account for only 6 human fatalities per year, while humans kill 100 million sharks per year. McKeever goes back through time to probe the shark's pre-historic secrets and how it has become the world's most feared and most misunderstood predator, and takes us on a pulse-pounding tour around the world and deep under the water's surface, from the frigid waters of the Arctic Circle to the coral reefs of the tropical Central Pacific, to see sharks up close in their natural habitat. He also interviews ecologists, conservationists, and world-renowned shark experts, including the founders of Greenpeace's Rainbow Warrior, the head of the Massachusetts Shark Research Program, and the self-professed "last great shark hunter." At once a deep-dive into the misunderstood world of sharks and an urgent call to protect them, Emperors of the Deep celebrates this wild species that hold the key to unlocking the mysteries of the ocean -- if we can prevent their extinction from climate change and human hunters.

Great White: The Majesty of Sharks by Chris Fallows - For most people, sharks and fear go hand in hand. Renowned photographer and conservationist Chris Fallows maintains a more nuanced relationship with the superpredator. Gasp-inducing in their immediacy and surprise, Fallows's brilliant photographs present these mighty creatures in a different light.Great Whitethe first publication to collect Fallows's workreveals the sublime beauty of sharks and provides a rare glimpse into the largely unseen world of great whites, hammerheads, and other breeds. Fallows captures these fearsome creatures both above water, as they intersect with humanity, and below, in their mysterious underwater domain. A one-of-a-kind portrait of the shark and a superlative study of the nature photographer's art, this book is bound to turn heads and elicit a deep appreciation for the creatures that inhabit our oceans.

Resurrecting the Shark: A Scientific Obsession and the Mavericks Who Solved the Mystery of a 270-Million-Year-Old Fossil by Susan Ewing - In 1993, Alaskan artist and paleo-shark enthusiast Ray Troll stumbled upon the weirdest fossil he had ever seen--a platter-sized spiral of tightly wound shark teeth. This chance encounter in the basement of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County sparked Troll's obsession with Helicoprion, a mysterious monster from deep time.
In 2010, tattooed undergraduate student and returning Iraq War veteran Jesse Pruitt became seriously smitten with a Helicoprion fossil in a museum basement in Idaho. These two bizarre-shark disciples found each other, and an unconventional band of collaborators grew serendipitously around them, determined to solve the puzzle of the mysterious tooth whorl once and for all.
Helicoprion was a Paleozoic chondrichthyan about the size of a modern great white shark, with a circular saw of teeth centered in its lower jaw--a feature unseen in the shark world before or since. For some ten million years, long before the Age of Dinosaurs, Helicoprion patrolled the shallow seas around the supercontinent Pangaea as the apex predator of its time.
Just a few tumultuous years after Pruitt and Troll met, imagination, passion, scientific process, and state-of-the-art technology merged into an unstoppable force that reanimated the remarkable creature--and made important new discoveries.
In this groundbreaking book, Susan Ewing reveals these revolutionary insights into what Helicoprion looked like and how the tooth whorl functioned--pushing this dazzling and awe-inspiring beast into the spotlight of modern science.

The Secret Life of Sharks: A Leading Marine Biologist Reveals the Mysteries of Shark Behavior by A. Peter Klimley - An authoritative and fascinating account of the true nature of sharks by one of the world's experts on shark behavior. Anyone who has ever watched Shark Week or is fascinated by sharks will be enthralled by this first-person account of the world of sharks.

Shark Drunk: The Art of Catching a Large Shark From a Tiny Rubber Dinghy in a Big Ocean by Morten Strøksnes - In the great depths surrounding the Lofoten islands in Norway lives the infamous Greenland shark. At twenty-six feet in length and weighing more than a ton, it is truly a beast to behold. But the shark is not just known for its size alone: its meat contains a toxin that, when consumed, has been known to make people drunk and hallucinatory. Shark Drunk is the true story of two friends, the author and the eccentric artist Hugo Aasjord, as they embark on a wild pursuit of the famed creature--from a tiny rubber boat. Together, the two men tackle existential questions, survive the world's most powerful maelstrom, and, yes, get drunk, as they attempt to understand the ocean from every possible angle, drawing on poetry, science, history, ecology, mythology, and their own, sometimes intoxicated, observations.

The Shark Handbook: The Essential Guide for Understanding the Sharks of the World by Gregory Skomal - Greg Skomal is one of the world's leading shark experts: many thousands of viewers know him as the "Shark Guy" on Discovery Channel and he's affiliated with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. So if you're dreaming of swimming with sharks, there's no one better to take you--and that's exactly what he does in this comprehensive, stunning field guide.  In addition to an awesome gatefold poster of a Great White (with all its distinguishing features shown in detail), plus amazing original images from Skomal and award-winning National Geographic photographer Nick Caloyianis, it contains a complete listing of every known shark in existence as well as some extinct species.  Learn about sharks from their birth to death, their anatomy, how to distinguish one shark from the next, how their teeth are developed, how they hunt and attack, and their importance and purpose within our eco system.

The Shark-Watcher's Handbook: A Guide to Sharks and Where to See Them by Mark Carwardine - The Shark-Watcher's Handbook covers everything you need to know about sharks and shark watching: the history, techniques, risks and controversies; a thorough overview of shark natural history and biology; the many threats facing sharks and how snorkelers and divers can help; and even how to get good shark photographs, safely. There is also an extensive, fully illustrated directory of the twenty-four species most commonly encountered by shark watchers. Each entry includes important information on natural history, classification, diet, reproduction, behavior and range; and there are special sections on identification, the potential danger to divers and good places for a close encounter.
The book includes the first detailed directory of more than 250 of the world's shark-watching hotspots, with a detailed description of each site and information on everything from the species most likely to be seen and the best time of year to visit to contact details for further information and travel notes.
Whether you're a professional diver, someone contemplating your first close encounter with a shark, or the sort of person who prefers to view these extraordinary animals in the pages of a book, The Shark-Watcher's Handbook is an attractive, invaluable, and utterly fascinating guide to the underwater world of sharks.

Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board by Bethany Hamilton - They say Bethany Hamilton has saltwater in her veins. How else could one explain the tremendous passion that drives her to surf? How else could one explain that nothing - not even the loss of her arm in a horrific shark attack - could come between her and the waves? That Halloween morning in Kauai, Hawaii Bethany responded to the shark's stealth with a calmness beyond belief. Pushing pain and panic aside, she immediately thought: 'Get to the beach...' Rushed to the hospital, where her father, Ted Hamilton, was about to undergo knee surgery, Bethany found herself taking his spot in the operating theatre. When the first thing Bethany wanted to know after surgery was 'When can I surf again?' it became clear that her unfaltering spirit and determination were part of a greater story - a tale of courage and faith that this modest and soft-spoken girl would come to share with the world.

Video Game Fiction

Oops, I missed a few days!  Oh, right back at it!  Here are ten novels with video game elements!

A Boy Made of Blocks by Keith Stuart - Alex loves his family, and yet he struggles to connect with his eight-year-old autistic son, Sam. The strain has pushed his marriage to the breaking point. So Alex moves in with his merrily irresponsible best friend on the world's most uncomfortable blow-up bed. As Alex navigates single life, long-buried family secrets, and part-time fatherhood, his son begins playing Minecraft. Sam's imagination blossoms and the game opens up a whole new world for father and son to share. Together, they discover that sometimes life must fall apart before you can build a better one. Inspired by Keith Stuart's own relationship with his autistic son, A Boy Made of Blocks is a tear-jerking, funny, and, most of all, true-to-life novel about the power of difference and one very special little boy.

Dirt Bikes, Drones, and Other Ways to Fly by Conrad Wesselhoeft - Seventeen year-old dirt-bike-riding daredevil Arlo Santiago catches the eye of the U.S. military with his first-place ranking on a video game featuring drone warfare, and must reconcile the work they want him to do with the emotional scars he has suffered following a violent death in his family. Adios, Nirvana author Conrad Wesselhoeft, takes readers from the skies over war-torn Pakistan to the dusty arroyos of New Mexico's outback in this young adult novel about daring to live in the wake of unbearable loss. 

Epic by Conor Kostick - Generations ago, violence was banned on New Earth. Society is governed and conflicts are resolved in the arena of a fantasy computer game, Epic. Everyone plays. If you win, you have the chance to go to university, get more supplies for your community, and fulfill your dreams; if you lose, your life both in and out of the game is worth nothing.
When Erik, seeking revenge for the unjust treatment of his parents, dares to subvert the rules of Epic, he and his friends find themselves up against with the ultimate masters of the game: the Committee. If Erik and his friends win, they may have the key to destroying Epic's tyranny over New Earth. But if they lose . . . Book 1 of 3 in the Epic series

Fallout by Gwenda Bond - Lois Lane is new to Metropolis, and this time, the teenager is determined to fit in. But almost as soon as she walks into her new high school, it becomes clear that it won't be easy. Kids known as the Warheads are making another girl insane, and Lois, with her snazzy new job at the Daily Planet, might be the only person who can stop them . . . Book 1 of 5 in the Lois Lane series

Insignia by S. J. Kincaid - The earth is in the middle of WWIII in Insignia, the first entry in S. J. Kincaid's fast-paced sci-fi adventure trilogy perfect for fans of Ender's Game.
The planet's natural resources are almost gone, and war is being fought to control the assets of the solar system. The enemy is winning. The salvation may be Tom Raines. Tom doesn't seem like a hero. He's a short fourteen-year-old with bad skin. But he has the virtual-reality gaming skills that make him a phenom behind the controls of the battle drones.
As a new member of the Intrasolar Forces, Tom's life completely changes. Suddenly, he's someone important. He has new opportunities, friends, and a shot at having a girlfriend. But there's a price to pay. . . . Book 1 of 3 in the Insignia series

Kat and Meg Conquer the World by Anna Priemaza - Kat's anxiety makes it hard for her to talk to new people; she only feels safe in front of her computer, playing her favorite video game. Meg hates being alone, but her ADHD keeps pushing people away. When the two girls are thrown together for a year-long science project, they discover they do have one thing in common: their obsession with the online gaming star LumberLegs and his hilarious videos. If they can stick together and stay out of their heads, they might figure out how to help each other-- and build the kind of friendship Kat never knew she wanted and Meg never believed she'd find. 

Mindwar by Andrew Klavan - Rick's high school football team couldn't be stopped when he was leading them as their quarterback. He was going to Syracuse on a scholarship. But then his dad abandoned them and a terrible accident left him crippled. Certain his old life is completely lost, Rick spends months hiding away in his room playing video games. He achieves the highest scores on so many games that he's approached by a government agency who claims to be trying to thwart a cyber attack on America that would destroy the technological infrastructure of the entire country. The agents say that the quick-thinking of a quarterback coupled with Nick's gaming experience make him perfect for this assignment. Entering The Realm gives Rick the one thing he thought he'd never have again: a body that's as fast and as strong as he ever was before the accident. But the more time he spends in The Realm, the more questions he has. What secrets are these agents keeping from him? What really happened to his father? How many others have gone into The Realm already and failed? And perhaps most important, is he the hero they think he is? Book 1 of 3 in the Mindwar Trilogy 

The Peripheral by William Gibson - Depending on her veteran brother's benefits in a city where jobs outside the drug trade are rare, Flynne assists her brother's latest beta-test tech assignment only to uncover an elaborate murder scheme.
"William Gibson returns with his first novel since 2010's New York Times-bestselling Zero History. Where Flynne and her brother, Burton, live, jobs outside the drug business are rare. Fortunately, Burton has his veteran's benefits, for neural damage he suffered from implants during his time in the USMC's elite Haptic Recon force. Then one night Burton has to go out, but there's a job he's supposed to do-a job Flynne didn't know he had. Beta-testing part of a new game, he tells her. The job seems to be simple: work a perimeter around the image of a tower building. Little buglike things turn up. He's supposed to get in their way, edge them back. That's all there is to it. He's offering Flynne a good price to take over for him. What she sees, though, isn't what Burton told her to expect. It might be a game, but it might also be murder. 

Soda Pop Soldier by Nick Cole - Gamer PerfectQuestion fights for ColaCorp in WarWorld, an online combat sport arena where mega-corporations field entire armies in the battle for real world global advertising-space dominance. Within the immense virtual battlefield, players and bots are high-tech grunts, using drop-ships and state-of-the-art weaponry to wipe each other out. But times are tough and the rent is due, and when players need extra dough, there's always the Black, an illegal open source tournament where the sick and twisted desires of the future are given free rein in the Westhavens, a gothic dungeon fantasy world. And all too soon, the real and virtual worlds collide when PerfectQuestion refuses to become the tool of a mad man intent on hacking the global economy for himself.  Book 1 of 2 in the Soda Pop Soldier series

Z. Rex by Stephen Cole - You're 14 and find yourself on your own. Your father, who has developed the world's cutting edge research on virtual electronic game-playing, has been missing for weeks. And suddenly you're being hunted by men with guns, your picture is on the news, and, worst of all, something seemingly impossible is chasing you--a savage, man-eating dinosaur. How can that be? Why is everyone trying to capture you? And what is your strange connection with this 21st-century prehistoric monster? 

Mindfulness & Meditation

July is Self Care Month and today is International Self-Care Day.  There are many ways to practice self-care, today I am featuring books on meditation and mindfulness.

Bliss More: How to Succeed in Meditation Without Really Trying by Light Watkins - Imagine you're sitting on a cushion with your legs crossed, ready to tap into unlimited joy. There's just one problem- You can't get comfortable (let alone still), and your head is full of way too many thoughts.
The problem is not with meditation, or you, though-the issue may be with your approach.
When properly understood and practiced, meditation should feel easy, calming, and comfortable. In Bliss More, maverick instructor Light Watkins provides the tools for making it E.A.S.Y. (Embrace, Accept, Surrender, Yield), dispels the biggest myths and misunderstandings, and shares real-world tips and straight talk for hacking into this ancient practice. The result- a happier and healthier you, inside and out. Watkins also shares candid testimonials from people whose lives have been enriched through his method, and extensive resources for transforming a daily chore into an enjoyable activity. Even the biggest skeptic will look forward to sitting for meditation every day.

Calm: Calm the Mind, Change the World by Michael Acton Smith - Join the Calm revolution. Modern life is hectic and relentless: trains delayed, endless emails filling the inbox, kids squabbling before bedtime ... There has never been a more important time to rediscover your pause button. Calm is the book that will show you how to take back a little bit of peace, space and all-important calm. This book contains the simple tools, tricks and habits that will change the rest your life. It is a practical and pleasurable guide to twenty-first century mindfulness. Regular meditation is medically proven to be good for you - it increases focus and creativity, productivity and job satisfaction, mental and even physical health. But in reality most of us don't have time to sit on a cushion with our eyes closed for half an hour every day. And many people associate meditation with hard work and huge lifestyle shifts: you might be imagining Buddhist monks locked in a mountain retreat and living off gruel ... This is where Calm comes in. Calm is about simple, achievable habits that work with the demands of your busy life instead of pretending those demands don't exist. Calm does not require specialist training: it uses abilities that every single one of us is born with, like creativity, spontaneity and simply noticing the world around you. Calm is not a set of rules that you need to worry about following or breaking. It is inspirational, practical and non-prescriptive. Onerous, time-consuming meditation might seem out of reach but everyone can achieve calm - including you. Calm combines extracts from fascinating neurological research with wisdom from history's great thinkers and the real-life experiences of individuals across the globe. It demystifies mindfulness and shows you the many simple ways to be mindful while carrying on with your life. It is also a beautifully crafted object, filled with artwork and artistry, that will change your perspective by showing you the pleasures of the world a new. Take a walk with nowhere to go, savour a chocolate on the tip of your tongue, plant a seed, doodle aimlessly, turn off your mobile phone for five short minutes. Smile, breathe and go slowly. Calm is divided into eight sections that everyone should have in their life: nature; work; creativity; children; travel; relationships; food; and sleep. Each section contains a mixture of fascinating research, creative prompts, activities and instructions, sensory stimuli and inspiration. Pick up Calm whenever you need it, dip in and out, read it and choose which bits work best for you. Michael Acton Smith has written a game-changing book, one that will finally balance everyone's need for calm with the realities of modern life. Join the Calm revolution. Calm your mind; change your world.

The Headspace Guide to Meditation and Mindfulness: How Mindfulness Can Change Your Life in Ten Minutes a Day by Andy Puddicombe - Andy Puddicombe, a former Buddhist monk, the Voice of Headspace, and the UK's foremost mindfulness expert, is on a mission: to get people to take 10 minutes out of their day to sit in the here and now.
Like his readers and students, Andy began his own meditation practice as a normal, busy person with everyday concerns, and he has since designed a program of mindfulness and guided meditation that fits neatly into a jam-packed daily routine--proving that just 10 minutes a day can make a world of difference.
Accessible and portable, The Headspace Guide to Meditation and Mindfulness offers simple but powerful meditation techniques that positively impact every area of physical and mental health: from productivity and focus, to stress and anxiety relief, sleep, weight-loss, personal relationships...the benefits are limitless. The result? More headspace, less stress. Andy brings this ancient practice into the modern world, tailor made for the most time starved among us.

The Heartfulness Way: Heart-Based Meditations for Spiritual Transformation by Kamlesh Patel & Joshua Pollock - Heartfulness is an ideal, a spiritual way of living by and from the heart that is inclusive of all ideologies, beliefs, and religions. In this heart-centered book, a student in conversation with his teacher, Kamlesh D. Patel--affectionately known as Daaji, the fourth and current spiritual guide of the century-old Heartfulness tradition--present a unique method of meditation with the power to facilitate an immediate, tangible spiritual experience, irrespective of a person's faith. Our modern, fast-paced world can be an overwhelming place. Every day, we're bombarded with messages telling us that in order to be happy, fulfilled, and worthy, we must be better, do more, and accumulate as much material wealth as possible. Most of us move through our busy lives with our minds full of these ideas, multitasking as we strive to navigate the responsibilities and expectations we must meet just to make it through the day. But what if there is another way? What if, rather than letting the busyness of life overtake our minds, we learn to be heartful instead? Based on Daaji's own combination of approaches and practices for the modern seeker--which draws from the teachings of Sahaj Marg, meaning "Natural Path"--Heartfulness is a contemporized version of the ancient Indian practice of Raja Yoga, a tradition that enables the practitioner to realize the higher Self within. While many books describe refined states of being, The Heartfulness Way goes further, providing a pragmatic course to experience those states for oneself, which, per the book's guiding principle, is "greater than knowledge." Heartfulness meditation consists of four elements--relaxation, meditation, cleaning, and prayer--and illuminates the ancient, defining feature of yogic transmission (or pranahuti), the utilization of divine energy for spiritual growth and transformation. Using the method, detailed practices, tips, and practical philosophy offered in this book, you'll reach new levels of attainment and learn to live a life more deeply connected to the values of the Heartfulness way--with acceptance, humility, compassion, empathy, and love.

The Mindful Day: Practical Ways to Find Focus, Calm, and Joy From Morning to Evening by Laurie Cameron - For overscheduled professionals looking to incorporate mindfulness into their daily lives, this step-by-step guide draws on contemplative traditions, modern neuroscience, and leading psychology to bring peace and focus to the home, in the workplace, and beyond. At the pinnacle of the digital age, it's hard to imagine packing one more thing into our overwhelmed lives. But new research shows that simple daily exercises can change the way our brains work, improve focus, boost productivity, lift our mood, and help us develop greater resilience. In this enriching book, noted teacher and mindfulness expert Laurie Cameron - a veteran of Google's Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute - shows how to seamlessly integrate mindfulness practice into your life. Timeless teachings and straightforward exercises designed for busy schedules -- from the morning commute to back-to-back meetings to family dinners - show how mindfulness practice can help you navigate any situation with control and clarity. Cameron's practical wisdom and concrete how-to steps will help you make the most of the present moment, creating a roadmap for inner peace - and a life of deeper purpose and joy.

Mindful Games: Sharing Mindfulness and Meditation with Children, Teens, and Families by Susan Kaiser Greenland - Playing games is a great way for kids to develop their focusing and attention skills and to become more mindful. Susan Kaiser Greenland has had a lot of success bringing mindfulness to the classroom, and in this book she shares her experience, showing how parents, caregivers, and teachers can cultivate these qualities at home or in a school setting. She includes fifty mindfulness games that develop what Greenland calls the "new A, B, C's" for learning and for a happy and successful life- Attention, Balance, and Compassion. In a playful way, the games introduce kids to breathing practices and techniques for developing focus, concentration, and sensory awareness, and identifying and self-regulating emotions, among others skills. They include "anchor" games that develop concentration; visualization games that encourage kindness and focus; analytical games that cultivate clear thinking; and awareness games that develop all of these qualities and give greater insight into ourselves, others, and relationships. Greenland contextualizes each game and offers guidance for the parents/caregivers throughout.
Even though the games are written for kids, they can be just as fun and transformative for adults. Greenland encourages parents and caregivers to develop their own attention, balance, and compassion and explore the universal concepts that she presents. She points out that as caregivers, our own mindfulness has a powerful effect on everyone in our lives, especially our children. They notice when we're calmer, more composed, and more joyful, and learn by our example.

The Monkey is the Messenger: Meditation and What Your Busy Mind is Trying to Tell You by Ralph de la Rosa - It's a common story. Someone wants to take up meditation, but they take themselves to be one of those people for whom it just doesn't work because they think too much. And they give it up in frustration after an hour or a couple weeks or a year. But though it is often taken to be the scourge of meditators, repetitive and excessive thinking is an experience common to everyone. The Buddha famously called it "monkey mind," and that term has become nearly a household phrase. At worst, when people sit down to meditate and invariably find themselves distracted, subtle and not-so-subtle forms of self-aggression and self-recrimination tend to ensue over an experience that is as natural as it unpreventable. At best, the monkey mind is viewed as an obstruction to a deeper way of being; something to ignore, a pest to move beyond. Such an idea often crops up in today's mindfulness culture, in which a myth prevails that meditation is about "emptying out thoughts" or "shutting off the mind."
The truth is, says Ralph De La Rosa, repetitive thinking is a natural function of the human organism that, like all other aspects of our being, serves a purpose--one that is bound up with the activity of awakening. When we stop dismissing this tendency and instead turn toward it, we can discover far-reaching implications in service of well-being, emotional intelligence, cultivating lovingkindness, healing trauma, and developing compassion. Using psychotherapeutic, somatic, and mindfulness-based approaches, The Monkey Is the Messenger is a guide to working productively in meditation practice, in our psychologies, and even in the broader social issues that often lie behind threatening monkey-mind thinking. It will issue a call for readers to end the war they wage with themselves and to meet their minds in a manner that is appropriately informed, efficacious, and enjoyable.

Natural Meditation: A Guide to Effortless Meditative Practice by Dean Sluyter - There's no trying in meditation. Just as water runs naturally downhill . . . just as leaves float naturally to the ground . . . anyone can settle naturally into meditation. Not trying, just allowing - not doing, just being. The key is effortlessness. Whether you're a complete novice or you've 'tried it before,' if you can breathe you can meditate. Guided by veteran teacher Dean Sluyter's easygoing, down-to-earth approach, you'll test-drive a variety of meditative 'vehicles,' such as breath, sound, the senses, the sky, and the simple sense of 'I,' and discover which ones fit you best. You'll find all the practical tips you need for adapting these methods to your daily life, even for a few minutes a day on the subway or in an office cubicle. And as your life opens to deep happiness, clarity, peace, and creative energy, you'll be inspired to keep on practicing - naturally.

Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation: A 28-Day Program by Sharon Salzberg - Thousands of years prove it, and Western science backs it: Meditation sharpens focus. Meditation lowers blood pressure, relieves chronic pain, reduces stress. Meditation helps us experience greater calm. Meditation connects us to our inner-most feelings and challenges our habits of self-judgment. Meditation helps protect  the brain against aging and improves our capacity for learning new things. Meditation opens the door to real and accessible happiness.
There is no better person to show a beginner how to harness the power of meditation than Sharon Salzberg, one of the world's foremost meditation teachers and spiritual authors. Cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society, author of Lovingkindness, Faith, and other books, Ms. Salzberg distills 30 years of teaching meditation into a 28-day program that will change lives. It is not about Buddhism, it's not esoteric--it is closer to an exercise, like running or riding a bike. From the basics of posture, breathing, and the daily schedule to the finer points of calming the mind, distraction, dealing with specific problem areas (pain in the legs? falling asleep?) to the larger issues of compassion and awareness, Real Happiness is a complete guide. It explains how meditation works; why a daily meditation practice results in more resiliency, creativity, peace, clarity, and balance; and gives twelve meditation practices, including mindfulness meditation and walking meditation.

Stress Less, Accomplish More: Meditation for Extraordinary Performance by Emily Fletcher - In our high-stress, overworked lives, we think the answer to accomplishing more is to do more. But the best advantage we can give ourselves is to take a mental break--to spend a few minutes of the day giving the body and brain rest. Did you know that a brief meditation can offer rest that's five times deeper than sleep? When you make time to practice the Z Technique this book teaches, you'll actually be more productive than if you took an hour-and-a-half nap or had a cup of coffee.
A leading expert in meditation for high performance, Emily Fletcher has taught meditation at numerous global corporations, including Google, Barclays Bank, and Viacom, to help their employees improve their focus and increase their productivity levels. With Stress Less, Accomplish More, anyone can get the benefits of her 15-minute twice-daily plan. Emily specifically developed the Z Technique for working people with busy lives. Now, you can learn to recharge anywhere, anytime--at home or at your desk. All you need is a few minutes and a chair (no apps, incense, or finger cymbals required).
This is not just another meditation book. In Stress Less, Accomplish More, Emily teaches a powerful trifecta of Mindfulness, Meditation, and Manifesting to improve your personal and professional performance, clarity, health, and sleep. You'll learn how to cultivate Mindfulness through brief but powerful exercises that will help you stop wasting time stressing. Plus, you'll get Manifesting tools to help you get crystal clear on your personal and professional goals for the future.
Filled with fascinating real-life transformations, interactive exercises, and practical knowledge, Stress Less, Accomplish More introduces you to a revelatory daily practice and shows you how to make it work for your modern life. 

Grandmothers in Fiction

Today is Gorgeous Grandmas Day, so here are ten novels with a grandmother as an important character.

Before I Met You by Lisa Jewell - In Jazz Age London, a tale of a passionate and forbidden interracial romance, and the unbreakable bond between a bright young woman and her eccentric grandmother, unfolds.
Betty forfeited everything in order to care for her grandmother Arlette in their dilapidated home on the English island of Guernsey. But her will included a beneficiary unknown to her family, a woman named Clara Pickle, at a London address. Flashback to 1920s bohemian London, where Arlette De La Mare is starting her new life in a time of postwar change. Beautiful and charismatic, she is soon drawn into a hedonistic world. But when tragedy strikes, she flees back to her childhood home. Will the secrets of Arlette's past help Betty find her own way to happiness in the present?

A Greyhound of a Girl by Roddy Doyle - Mary O’Hara is a sharp and cheeky 12-year-old Dublin schoolgirl who is bravely facing the fact that her beloved Granny is dying. But Granny can’t let go of life, and when a mysterious young woman turns up in Mary’s street with a message for her Granny, Mary gets pulled into an unlikely adventure. The woman is the ghost of Granny’s own mother, who has come to help her daughter say good-bye to her loved ones and guide her safely out of this world. She needs the help of Mary and her mother, Scarlett, who embark on a road trip to the past. Four generations of women travel on a midnight car journey. One of them is dead, one of them is dying, one of them is driving, and one of them is just starting out.

The House of Tomorrow by Peter Bognanni - Sebastian Prendergast lives in a geodesic dome with his eccentric grandmother, who homeschooled him in the teachings of futurist philosopher R. Buckminster Fuller. But when his grandmother has a stroke, Sebastian is forced to leave the dome and make his own way in town.
Jared Whitcomb is a chain-smoking sixteen-year-old heart-transplant recipient who befriends Sebastian, and begins to teach him about all the things he has been missing, including grape soda, girls, and Sid Vicious. They form a punk band called The Rash, and it's clear that the upcoming Methodist Church talent show has never seen the likes of them. Wholly original, The House of Tomorrow is the story of a young man's self-discovery, a dying woman's last wish, and a band of misfits trying desperately to be heard.

Love Mercy by Earlene Fowler - After being widowed, Love Mercy Johnson has come to terms with her life in Morro Bay, California. She spends her time writing columns for a regional magazine, helping her in-laws work their ranch, and trying to move on. But her dreams of reconciliation with her long-estranged grandchildren come true when her eighteen-year- old brokenhearted granddaughter, Rett, unexpectedly shows up. Together they struggle to co-exist while confronting old resentments and painful memories. When a family crisis forges an unexpected connection between the two grieving women, they must discover if by working together, they can change their lives, and the lives of those they love, for the better.

Once in a Blue Moon Lodge by Lorna Landvik - Set adrift when her mother sells the salon that has been a neighborhood institution for decades, Nora Rolvaag takes a camping trip, intending to do nothing more than roast marshmallows over an open fire and under a starry sky. Two chance encounters, however, will have enormous consequences, and her getaway turns out to be more of a retreat from her daily life than she ever imagined. But Nora is the do-or-die-trying daughter of Patty Jane, who now must embrace the House of Curl's slogan: "Expect the Unexpected." With her trademark wit and warmth, Lorna Landvik follows Nora and an ever-growing cast of characters between city and wooded retreat, Minnesota and Norway, a past that's secret and a future that's promising, but uncertain. Responding to a mysterious letter with a Norwegian postmark, Nora's grandmother Ione travels to her native land to tend to a dying cousin and her husband-two people who played a painful, pivotal role in her past. Nora accompanies her and is surprised by her grandmother's long-ago love story-but even more surprised by the beginning of her own.

The Secret of the Nightingale Palace by Dana Sachs - Struggling to move on after her husband's death, thirty-five-year-old Anna receives an unexpected phone call from her estranged grandmother, Goldie, summoning her to New York. A demanding woman with a sharp tongue and a devotion to fashion and etiquette, Goldie has not softened in the five years since she and her granddaughter last spoke. Now she wants Anna to drive her to San Francisco to return a collection of exquisite Japanese art to a long-lost friend. Hours of sitting behind the wheel of Goldie's Rolls-Royce soften Anna's attitude toward her grandmother, and as the miles pass, old hurts begin to heal. Yet no matter how close they become, Goldie harbors painful secrets about her youthful days in 1940's San Francisco that she cannot share. But if she truly wants to help her granddaughter find happiness again, she must eventually confront the truths of her life.

A Terrible Country by Keith Gessen - When Andrei Kaplan's older brother Dima insists that Andrei return to Moscow to care for their ailing grandmother, Andrei must take stock of his life in New York. His girlfriend has stopped returning his text messages. His dissertation adviser is dubious about his job prospects. It's the summer of 2008, and his bank account is running dangerously low. Perhaps a few months in Moscow are just what he needs. So Andrei sublets his room in Brooklyn, packs up his hockey stuff, and moves into the apartment that Stalin himself had given his grandmother, a woman who has outlived her husband and most of her friends. She survived the dark days of communism and witnessed Russia's violent capitalist transformation, during which she lost her beloved dacha. She welcomes Andrei into her home, even if she can't always remember who he is. Andrei learns to navigate Putin's Moscow, still the city of his birth, but with more expensive coffee. He looks after his elderly--but surprisingly sharp!--grandmother, finds a place to play hockey, a cafe to send emails, and eventually some friends, including a beautiful young activist named Yulia. Over the course of the year, his grandmother's health declines and his feelings of dislocation from both Russia and America deepen. Andrei knows he must reckon with his future and make choices that will determine his life and fate. When he becomes entangled with a group of leftists, Andrei's politics and his allegiances are tested, and he is forced to come to terms with the Russian society he was born into and the American one he has enjoyed since he was a kid.

The Unraveling of Mercy Louis by Keija Parssinen - In Port Sabine, the air is thick with oil, superstition reigns, and dreams hang on making a winning play. All eyes are on Mercy Louis, the star of the championship girls’ basketball team. Mercy seems destined for greatness, but the road out of town is riddled with obstacles. There is her grandmother, Evelia, a strict evangelical who has visions of an imminent Rapture and sees herself as the keeper of Mercy’s virtue. There are the cryptic letters from Charmaine, the mother who abandoned Mercy at birth. And then there’s Travis, the boy who shakes the foundation of her faith. At the periphery of Mercy’s world floats team manager Illa Stark, a lonely wallflower whose days are spent caring for a depressed mother crippled in a refinery accident. Like the rest of the town, Illa is spellbound by Mercy’s beauty and talent, but a note discovered in Mercy’s gym locker reveals that her life may not be as perfect as it appears. The last day of school brings the disturbing discovery, and as summer unfolds and the police investigate, every girl becomes a suspect. When Mercy collapses on the opening night of the season, Evelia prophesies that she is only the first to fall, and soon, other girls are afflicted by the mysterious condition, sending the town into a tailspin, and bringing Illa and Mercy together in an unexpected way.

The Velvet Hours by Alyson Richman - As Paris teeters on the edge of the German occupation, a young French woman closes the door to her late grandmother's treasure-filled apartment, unsure if she'll ever return. An elusive courtesan, Marthe de Florian cultivated a life of art and beauty, casting out all recollections of her impoverished childhood in the dark alleys of Montmartre. With Europe on the brink of war, she shares her story with her granddaughter Solange Beaugiron, using her prized possessions to reveal her innermost secrets. Most striking of all are a beautiful string of pearls and a magnificent portrait of Marthe painted by the Italian artist Giovanni Boldini. As Marthe's tale unfolds, like velvet itself, stitched with its own shadow and light, it helps to guide Solange on her own path. Inspired by the true account of an abandoned Parisian apartment, Alyson Richman brings to life Solange, the young woman forced to leave her fabled grandmother's legacy behind to save all that she loved.

When the Cypress Whispers by Yvette Manessis Corporon - The daughter of Greek immigrants, Daphne aspires to the American Dream, yet feels as if she's been sleepwalking through life. Caught between her family's old-world traditions and the demands of a modern career, she cannot seem to find her place.
Only her beloved grandmother on Erikousa, a magical island off the coast of Greece, knows her heart. Daphne's fondest memories are of times spent in the kitchen with Yia-yia, cooking and learning about the ancient myths. It was the thought of Yia-yia that consoled Daphne in the wake of her husband's unexpected death.
After years of struggling to raise her child and pay the bills, Daphne now has a successful restaurant, a growing reputation as a chef, and a wealthy fiancé--everything she's ever wanted. But across the ocean, Yia-yia can see through the storybook perfection of Daphne's new life-- and now she is calling her back to Erikousa. She has secrets about the past to share with her granddaughter-- stories from the war, of loyalty and bravery in the face of death. She also has one last lesson to teach her: that security is not love, and that her life can be filled with meaning again.